Announcing Award Changes

Spring is in the air and as it arrives, we’re excited to announce a few changes to the Warland Award, previously known as the VMI Betsy Warland Between Genres Award.

The Warland Award now has a new home and website of its own: WarlandAward.ca

Named after innovative author and VMI founder, Betsy Warland, this yearly prize recognizes hybrid genre books published in Canada. Hybrid genre books combine two or more genres, such as memoir and literary criticism, fiction and non-fiction, or memoir and poetry.

This year, we’re thrilled to have Phanuel Antwi as our judge.

Antwi is a poet, artist, literary cultural critic, and researcher in the field of critical Black studies. His book, On Cuddling: Loved to Death in the Racial Embrace, was published in 2023 by Pluto Press, and he is completing a second book, Currencies of Blackness: Cheerfulness, Faithfulness, and Politeness in Settler Writing. 

We’ve simplified the submission process, and will now be open for submissions once a year, from November 1 – December 1. For this year’s 2025 contest, titles must be published between January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025. 

It’s always a delight reading the many beautiful and experimental books that come our way as part of the award. Please visit the website for details and help us share the news! We’re eager to read your work!